1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color information reading apparatus suitable for use in facsimile equipment, a color scanner, a copying machine, etc., and more specifically to a color information reading apparatus of a type wherein each signal read from a color original is modulated to produce a modulated output, which is, in turn, represented in binary form, thereby enabling the data represented in binary form to be read.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional color information reading apparatus for reading color information from a two-color original, for example, a photoelectric converter is activated to convert light reflected from a surface of the original irradiated with desired light into analog signals. Then, a signal processing circuit electrically processes the analog signals thus converted so as to sequentially produce multivalued or digitized signals. A preceding digitized signal of the sequentially-produced digitized signals is delayed by a digital delay circuit such as a memory. Thereafter, an arithmetical operation is performed on the preceding digitized signal and a digitized signal electrically processed subsequently to the preceding digitized signal, thereby avoiding invalidating signal components for color discrimination. In addition, the signals, which have been subjected to the arithmetical operation, are represented in binary form, thereby making it possible to avoid wrong color discrimination.
Since the wrong color discrimination can be avoided in this way, it is convenient to use the color information reading apparatus referred to above. However, the color information reading apparatus must provide a digital delay circuit such as a multivalue or digital memory to delay each of the digitized signals, and store the digitized signals therein. Accordingly, the digital delay circuit such as the digital memory becomes complex and its manufacturing cost is high, thereby causing a problem that the color information reading apparatus is complex in structure and its manufacturing cost is rendered high.